Contemporary Buddhist philosophy: A biographical essay

·期刊原文

Contemporary Buddhist philosophy: A biographical essay

by Frank J. Hoffman

Asian Philosophy

Vol. 2 No. 1 1992 Pp.79-100

Copyright by Asian Philosophy

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I. Definition of Scope

This article focuses upon major works produced by Buddhists and/or scholars
of Buddhism in the twentieth century. Some works mentioned are not on
philosophy proper but on related fields, where reading is deemed essential
background for philosophical understanding. There is thus an unavoidable
interdisciplinary flavour to the article.

Some caveats are in order. There is a certain oddness involved in
attempting to introduce Buddhist thought to Western philosophers at all,
since the categories of Western philosophy do not closely mesh with those
of Eastern philosophy. It should be recognised at the outset that from
Asian perspectives it is somewhat artificial to pigeon-hole Buddhist
philosophy in Western categories (such as branches of philosophy and
schools of philosophy). It is, however, in the nature of reference works to
use categories.

My justification of the major rubrics employed is in terms of ease of use
for reference. Since the readership is, in this case, English-speaking
philosophers and philosophy students, it is therefore appropriate to use
categories convenient for them. This is a pragmatic strategy and carries no
implication of cultural imperialism whatsoever. It would be entirely
useless to use as rubrics categories unknown to the Western philosophers,
no matter how internally faithful these are to Asian traditions from a
contextual point of view. Consequently no apology is in order for the use
of the categories which follow, just a word of caution that one must not
confuse the finger pointing at the moon for the moon itself.

The specific task here is to elucidate those elements of contemporary
Buddhist philosophy emergent from cultural contexts which are amenable to
philosophical categorisation. To the extent that there has been a
contemporary Buddhist philosophy across geographical lines in the
twentieth century, that is due to the interaction of traditional Buddhist
modes of thought with Western ones. Issues such as the environment, animal
rights and feminism compete for space in the publisher's market of learned
books and journals with more traditional topics such as the mind-body
problem in philosophy and Buddhist-Christian dialogue. Neither the
traditional nor the trendy can be ignored if one aspires to a holistic
vision of contemporary Buddhist philosophy. Accordingly, some categories
will be traditional ones while others will be topical issues.

In this article 'Contemporary' is construed as meaning 'twentieth-century',
but for the most part in practice the focus is on materials published since
1945. Because of restrictions on length I could not include everything
possible, and sometimes have had to make potentially controversial
judgments as to what materials to include. My criterion for selection is
whether the entry is likely to be historically significant in the field of
Buddhist studies when viewed from a philosophical perspective. Since others
applying the same criterion may make different judgments, there is
inevitably an element of subjectivity in the process of selection.

II. Buddhism and the Branches of Philosophy

Before treating more specialised works, it is worth noticing a few works of
general interest. Textual and cultural background for the study of
contemporary Buddhist philosophy is provided in W. T. De Bary, Buddhist
Tradition in India, China and Japan (1969), in De Bary's Sourcebooks, in
Edward Conze (Ed.), Buddhist Thought in India (London: Allen and Unwin,
1962), and in Conze et al. (Eds), Buddhist Texts Through the Ages (Boston:
Shambala, 1990). Karl Potter, Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophy is a
monumental reference work in progress, which, along with G. P.
Malalasekera's Encyclopedia of Buddhism, is of enduring significance.

A useful philosophical survey text for Chinese and Indian Buddhist thought
is John Koller, Oriental Philosophies (New York: Scribners', 1970/1985).
This work, together with Koller's The Indian Way (New York: Macmillan,
1982) and his Sourcebook on Asian Philosophies with Patricia Koller (New
York: Macmillan, 1991) do nicely for general reference or for undergraduate
study. A concise work on Japanese Buddhism as a possible supplement to
Koller is Junjiro Takakusu (Ed. by Wing-tsit Chan and Charles A. Moore),
The Essentials of Buddhist Philosophy (Honolulu: University of Hawaii,
1947). For a less schematic approach, one might consult Hajime Nakamura,
Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press,
1964). A valuable ten-volume series, Classics of Modern Japanese Thought
and Culture includes Nakamura's Ways and Works by Yanagita, Tsuda, Watsuji,
Hasegawa, Kato, Nakamura, Suzuki, Nishida, Muraoka and Hatano on Buddhism,
Shinto, and Japanese thought (UNESCO and Greenwood Press, 1988). For basic
Buddhism a good work is Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught (New York:
Grove Press, 1959/1974). An authoritative anthology with brief articles
which can be easily combined with primary text readings is Charles S.
Prebish, Buddhism: A Modern Perspective (University Park: Penn State,
1975). In Prebish is a piece by Roger Corless, 'Buddhism and the West',
which includes a discussion of movements such as theosophy.

Other useful general works, but recommended specifically for
philosophically-oriented study and reference, are Arthur L. Herman, An
Introduction to Buddhist Thought: A Philosophic History of Indian Buddhism
(Lanham: University Press of America, 1983), Troy Wilson Organ, Western
Approaches to Eastern Philosophy (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1975),
Nolan Pliny Jacobson, Buddhism: the Religion of Analysis (London: Allen &
Unwin, 1966; reprinted by SIU Press), David J. Kalupahana, Buddhist
Philosophy (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1976) and Frank J.
Hoffman, Rationality and Mind in Early Buddhism (Delhi: Motilal Banarsdass,
1987).

A. Buddhism and Logic

Logic is sometimes said to be the backbone of philosophy, but in Buddhist
thought that backbone is particularly supple. Especially in East Asian
Mahayana one finds a tendency to inclusive patterns of thinking (both/and)
rather than exclusive ones (either/or). Hosaku Matsuo, The Logic of Unity
(Albany: SUNY Press, 1987) brings this out well.

In the South Asian context it is instructive to read B. K. Matilal,
Perception (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986); "too often the term
'Indian Philosophy' is identified with a subject that is presented as
mystical and non-argumentative, that is at best poetic and at worst
dogmatic. A corrective to this view is long overdue" (pp. 4-5). Indeed, a
corrective to an overly general and stereotypical view of Eastern thought
is found in this and other of Matilal's detailed and philosophically
perspicuous works.

Another commonly found feature of logic in contemporary Buddhist thought is
its close connection with ontology. Rather than understanding logic as only
a matter of abstract problems connected with semantics and analytic truth,
Buddhist logic is pragmatically grounded in a view of the way things are.

Since there is a long tradition of debate in Buddhist monasteries it is not
surprising that Buddhist logic is fundamentally applied logic which makes a
difference to how debates should be conducted. Although parallels to formal
logical principles may be found, Buddhist logic is basically concerned with
rules for discussion in order to determine what is true.

Sometimes mythological elements enter into discussions of Buddhist logic,
as when it is said that a thunderbolt bearing yakka will shatter one's
skull into a thousand pieces for a self-contradictory utterance --so
greatly is logical consistency valued in Buddhist thought!

For a concise overview of the historical development of Indian logic see J.
F. Staal, 'Logic, Indian' in Paul Edwards (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Philosophy
(New York: Macmillan, 1975). Among masterful works in the field, those of
Bimal K. Matilal and Karl Potter are of enduring significance.

B. K. Matilal, Logic, Language and Reality: An Introduction to Indian
Philosophical Studies (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1985) brilliantly
combines a philosophical approach with philological exactitude. It focuses
on logical, epistemological, ontological and soteriological problems in
India and shows how "the study of the history of ancient philosophy can be
combined with the first-hand study of philosophical problems and questions,
to the advantage of progress in both enquiries" (p. 8).

Karl Potter, Presuppositions of India's Philosophies (Englewood Cliffs:
Prentice-Hall, 1963, reprinted by Greenwood 1972/75/77) is a solid,
philosophically interesting work.

Ninian Smart, Doctrine and Argument in Indian Philosophy (London: Allen &
Unwin, 1964) is a little classic, accessible to readers of various levels,
even those without a knowledge of technical terms. It explores the
religious determinants of metaphysical systems in India, including Buddhist
metaphysics.

F. T. Stcherbatsky, Buddhist Logic Vols. I and II (New York: Dover, 1962
reprint of 1930 edition) is an important scholarly contribution to the
field. Henry Nash Randle, Fragments from Dinnaga (Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass, reprint 1981) makes a concise statement on Dinnaga's thought.

Hosaku Matsuo, The Logic of Unity (Albany: State University of New York
Press, 1987) argues in favour of a view of logic as a unified cognitive
process, mind as intuitive and holistic, the interrelatedness of
metaphysics and epistemology, and the primacy of synthetic over analytic
reasoning in philosophy. Drawing upon Prajnaparamitra tradition and
emphasising the sunyata ('emptiness') doctrine construed as the primordial
source of creative potentiality rather than non-being, Matsuo challenges
the familiar Western dichotomies of subject/object, mind/body, and internal
world/external world. Although rooted in the Kyoto school, Matsuo also at
once underscores the importance of Kant and a philosophy related to
existence.

B. Madhyamaka Buddhist Logic

Important translations of Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika have occurred in
this century by Kenneth Inada (1970), Frederick Streng (1967) and David
Kalupahana (1986). In addition, Kamaleswar Bhattacharya, The Dialectical
Method of Nagarjuna: Vigrahavyavartani (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,
1978/1976) should be mentioned. Malcolm David Eckel, Janagarbha's
Commentary of the Distinction Between the Two Truths (Albany: SUNY Press,
1987) is a valuable contribution to Madhyamaka philosophy, not just for its
translation of an 8th century text but for its contemporary affirmation of
the value of both philosophy and Buddhism thus: "Philosophy is so closely
related to Buddhahood that even the tightest arguments bring to mind the
powers and attainments of crowds of Buddhas and bodhisattvas" (p. 3).

Richard H. Robinson, Early Madhyamika in India and China (Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass, 1978), is the author's University of London doctoral
dissertation and a reprint of the University of Wisconsin 1967 edition of
the same. It is a classic work on the subject. The philosophy of
Kumarajiva, Hui-yuan, Seng-jui, and Seng-chao is explained in detail with
reference to specific texts, and there is a useful comparative chapter.

T. R. V. Murti, The Central Philosophy of Buddhism (London: Allen and
Unwin, 1960) and Mervyn Sprung, Lucid Exposition of the Middle Way (London:
Routledge Kegan Paul, 1979) are richly textured studies which repay careful
reading.

C. Buddhism and Epistemology (Theory of Knowledge)

The Buddhist contemporary poet, Gary Snyder, composes 'Pine Tree Tops' in
his poetry collection, Turtle Island, thus:

in the blue night frost haze, the sky glows with the moon pine tree tops
bend snow-blue, fade into sky, frost, starlight. the creak of boots. rabbit
tracks, deer tracks what do we know.

For philosophers, however, epistemological implications of Buddhist thought
are not far to seek, as the work of K. N. Jayatilleke admirably
demonstrates. B. K. Matilal, D. J. Kalupahana, K. N. Upadhyaya and G.
Dharmasiri have highlighted the importance of 'knowledge and vision' in
Buddhist thought. Yet for all that Buddhist thought cannot be reduced to
philosophy without religion, and a fortiori cannot be reduced to a single
branch of philosophy such as epistemology.

B. K. Matilal, Perception (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986) defends
Nyaya-Vaisesika realism as against Buddhist phenomenological idealism while
giving a historical account of the two schools. He shows that Western
philosophy and Indian philosophy have much in common on topics of
perception, external world and criteria of human knowledge. Matilal's
Epistemology, Logic, Grammar in Indian Philosophical Analysis (The Hague:
Mouton, 1971) is also a valuable work to consult.

K. N. Jayatilleke, Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge (London: Allen and
Unwin, 1963) has written the classic account of Buddhist epistemology from
a Sri Lankan perspective. His opus is both finely detailed and
philosophically interesting. Malcolm David Eckel, Jnanagarbha's Commentary
on the Distinction Between the Two Truths (Albany: SUNY Press, 1987) has
produced a study of Jnanagarbha, a thinker in the 8th Century Svatantrika
branch of the Madhyamaka school, calling attention to experience and
perception. Eckel emphasies the Indian rather than Tibetan material and
attempts to capture Madhyamaka just as it was about to enter Tibetan
culture. In so doing Eckel eniches the contemporary study of Buddhist
thought through his mastery of the Sanskrit sources. For a Tibetan approach
to Svatantrika, one might well consult Donald S. Lopez, A Study of
Svatantrika (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1987).

D. Buddhism and Ethics

It is sometimes said that not enough work has been done in Buddhist ethics.
On the South Asian side Hammalawa Saddhatissa, Buddhist Ethics (Boston:
Wisdom, 1987) and Winston L. King, In the Hope of Nibbana (La Salle, IL:
Open Court, 1964) are noteworthy, as on the East Asian side are Masao Abe's
translation of Nishida, The Study of Good (New York: Yale University Press,
1990) and the previous translation by Valdo Viglielmo. Phillip Kapleau, The
Wheel of Life and Death: A Practical and Spiritual Guide (New York:
Doubleday, 1989) is an accessible work with chapters on such ethical topics
as suicide and euthanasia.

The interface between practice and doctrine is an emphasis of the recent
volume edited by David W. Chappell, Buddhist and Taoist Practice in
Medieval Chinese Society (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1987) and
in Stephen Teiser, The Ghost Festival in Medieval China (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1988).

The practice of meditation is the backbone of Buddhist ethics. Amadeo
Sole-Leris, Tranquility and Insight (London: Rider, 1986) provides a
contemporary, useful general introduction. For a scholarly treatment, see
Michael Carrithers, The Forest Monks of Sri Lanka (Delhi: Oxford University
Press, 1983). Other general works of interest on the practice of Buddhist
meditation is Bhikkhu Buddhadasa, Anapanasati (Mindfulness of Breathing)
(Bangkok: Sublime Life Mission, 1971/1976) and Bhikku Nanamoli, Mindfulness
of Breathing (Anapanasti) (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1964). On
the Mahayana side there is Minoru Kiyota, Mahayana Buddhist Meditation:
Theory and Practice (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1978). A
Unitarian Christian critique which attempts to sort out the pros and cons
of meditation practice is Douglas A. Fox, Meditation and Reality: A
Critical View (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1986).

1. Non-violence. Thomas Merton, Gandhi on Non-Violence (New York: New
Directions, 1964/1965) is edited with an introduction by Merton and
containing excerpts from Gandhi's work.

Glyn Richards, The Philosophy of Gandhi (London: Curzon Press, Barnes &
Noble, 1982) is a fine book on Gandhi. Chris Chapple, Karma (Albany: SUNY
Press, 1986) analyses Vedic, Epic, Hindu, and Buddhist sutra literature,
and emphasises action in the present that conditions the future. Decision
making instead of destiny, and freedom instead of fate, predominate on
Chapple's interpretation of karma ('action') in Buddhism.

A useful book on non-violence towards animals is Tom Regan (ed.) Animal
Sacrifices: Religious Perspectives on the Use of Animals in Science
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1986).

A Vietnamese Buddhist monk of considerable popular influence is Thich Nat
Hahn, author of several mainly aphoristic works such as The Sun, My Heart
(Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1988). Although therein Hahn has a way of
contrasting 'philosophy' with words which 'come from the depths of the
soul' (p. 67) in a way somewhat similar to Miriam Levering, Rethinking
Scripture (Albany: SUNY, 1990) with the emphasis on 'true words', his word
does contain epistemological implications: "All is in the word 'known'. To
know is to realize. Realization is mindfulness." (p. 133). Hahn is
well-known for his activities as chairman of the Vietnamese Buddhist Peace
delegation during the Vietnam war.

After studies at Cambridge (England) and Hawaii, P. D. Premasiri is working
on the topic of Buddhist ethics and continues to teach at the University of
Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Formerly from Sri Lanka, Bhikkhu Mahinda Deegalle of
Chicago is author of Nibbana and Morality (in Sinhalese).

An important recent collection of papers is Charles Fu and Sandra Wawrytko
(eds), Buddhist Ethics and Modern Society (New York: Greenwood Press,
1991).

2. Environment. SUNY Press continues to be one of the leaders in producing
books on Buddhism which relate to a contemporary audience. A good example
is J. Baird Callicott and Roger T. Ames (Eds), Nature in Asian Traditions
of Thought: Essays in Environmental Philosophy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1989).
Buddhist ecological ethics are explored therein with papers by David J.
Kalupahana, William R. Lafleur, Frank Cook, Kenneth Inada et al.

3. Gender issues. Robert Aitken, The Mind of Clover (San Francisco: North
Point Press, 1984) writes: "My feeling is that with the encouragement of
teacher and sangha, the individual member has a chance for personal
realization through Zen practice, whether he or she is heterosexual or
homosexual. Buddha nature is not either one and it is both.' (p. 42).

In 1977 judge King-Hamilton sentenced the poet, James Kirkup, for
blasphemous libel in what became known as 'The Gay News Trial'. This
provided the context for Bhikkhu Sangharakshita's pamphlet, Buddhism and
Blasphemy (London: Windhorse Press, 1978). Subsequent philosophical
discussion in journals has occurred in Frank J. Hoffman, 'Remarks on
Blasphemy' (Scottish Journal of Religious Studies, 4 (2), 1983), Roy W.
Perrett 'Blasphemy (Sophia, 26 (2), 1987) and Frank J. Hoffman, 'More on
Blasphemy' (Sophia, 28 (2), 1989).

I. B. Horner, Women Under Primitive Buddhism: Laywomen and Almswomen
(Flushing: Asia Book Corp., 1975) is a classic study of women in Theravada.
Diana Paul, Women in Buddhism: Images of the Feminine in the Mahayana
Tradition (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979/1985), is an
important contribution on the Mahayana side. Wendy D. O'Flaherty, Women,
Androgenes, and Other Mythical Beasts (Chicago and London: University of
Chicago Press, 1980) is a "woman's view of a group of men's views about
women" (p. x) focusing mainly on Hindu mythology but with some references
toroughout.

Also noteworthy is Ellen S. Sidor (Ed.), A Gathering of Spirit: Women
Teaching in American Buddhism (Cumberland, RI: Primary Point Press, 1987).
Deborah Hopkinson, Michele Hill, Eileen Kiera (Eds), Not Mixing Up Buddhism
(Fredonia, NY: White Pine Press, 1986) offer a valuable collection of
essays mainly by women writers (but including one by Roshi Robert Aitken).
Important to those who, like Rita Gross, seek a synthesis of feminism and
Buddhism is K. R. Norman's revised edition of C.A.F. Rhys David's
Therigatha under the title of Poems of Early Buddhist Nuns (Oxford: Pali
Text Society, 1989).

4. Abortion. In his book, Liquid Life, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press, 1992) and in Philosophy East & West XL, 4, October 1990, William
Lafleur explores both the ethics and the sociology of abortion in Japan. He
calls attention to the Buddhist mizu kuyo (funeral rites for aborted
foetuses) and to the curious role Buddhism came to play in a Japan where
ritual purification in Shinto shunned death and funerals as polluting.

The Diamond Sangha, a Zen meditation group in Hawaii, have reproduced the
text of their ceremony for the death of the unborn in Aitken's Mind of
Glover mentioned above.

5. Equality. George P. Malalasekera (Ed.), Buddhism and the Race Question
(Westport: Greenwood, 1978 reprint of 1958 edition) speaks to this
important issue which divides Sinhalese from Tamils and blacks from whites.
Sallie King, Buddha Nature (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991) emphasises an
important strand of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy which leaves no room for
racism of any kind. For if the 'Buddha nature' is inherent in all beings,
then all beings are in one important sense equal.

6. Right livelihood. Uma Chakravarti, The Social Dimensions of Early
Buddhism (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1987) is worth consulting on the
social and political context of early Buddhism, especially on the gahapati
(householder). Although not itself a philosophical work, this book will
provide useful information in understanding Buddhist ethics in the
socio-political context.

Surely it is possible to be a householder and a Buddhist, but is it
possible to be a Buddhist householder and a Christian at the same time? In
Genuine Fake (London: Heinemann, 1986) Monica Furlong gently chides Alan
Watts, saying of his episcopal ordination: "He did not, in fact, make any
pretence of conversion, but such was the enthusiasm of the Christian clergy
who encouraged him, or such was the unconscious arrogance in the church
that all 'right-thinking' people are Christian at heart, that no
difficulties at all were made about his proposal to take up paid employment
in a religion no longer his own" (pp. 78-79).

Furlong's biography thus raises the question of the meaning of 'right
livelihood' for Buddhistically inclined twentieth century people.
Extrapolating from the thought of Wilfred Cantwell-Smith an interesting
answer to the problem of authenticity raised by Furlong is possible. Making
a distinction between the adjectival and the noun use of religions (e.g.
being a Christian person/being a Christian), it is possible for the same
person to be both Christian and a Buddhist. Roger Taishi Corless also
struggles with this issue in an interesting way, with the cakra-crucifix
diagrams, towards a Buddhist-Christian synthesis. If moves such as
Cantwell-Smith's and Corless' are apt, perhaps Furlong's criticism of Watts
can be answered.

7. Ethics in Ritual Action. Richard Gombrich, Precept and Practice (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1971) and his Theravada Buddhism (London: Routledge, 1988)
are important sociological and doctrinal background materials for
philosophical investigation of Buddhist ethics, especially in the Sri
Lankan context. John Holt, Disciplines: the Canonical Buddhism of the
Vinayapitaka (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1983) presents a careful study of
Vinaya. Kenneth Wells, Thai Buddhism: Its Rites and Activities (Bangkok:
Suriyabun Publishers, 1975) is an authoritative source for material on Thai
Buddhist ceremonies. Although not on Buddhism per se, Peter Winch's
article, 'Understanding a Primitive Society' (reprinted in Ethics in
Action) can be a powerful stimulus in discussing the meaning of ritual
actions in the Buddhist context.

E. Buddhism, Metaphysics and Ontology

A useful general introduction to metaphysical problems in Western
philosophy is Brian Carr, Metaphysics: An Introduction (New Jersey:
Humanities Press, 1987).

It is arguable that metaphysical presuppositions are inherent in world view
formation, such that a sharp wedge between Buddhism of even the earliest
sort and metaphysics cannot be validly drawn. The terms of a particular
language demarcate the real from the unreal for a user of that language. On
this view a metaphysical system is a working out of the implications of
linguistic structures (e.g. the subject/object and substance/attribute
distinctions). One may not care to construct a metaphysical system, but
metaphysical implications cannot be absent from one's thought insofar as
one employs language. For Buddhists, suffering is a real feature of
existence.

But Nagarjuna and some deconstructionists opt for a provisional use of
language such that one is not led into metaphysical commitments at all.
Even the Buddha's own language used to convey the dharma is sometimes
characterised as provisional.

So there is controversy in interpreting whether, and if so how, metaphysics
plays a role in Buddhism. Proponents of the thesis that Buddhism is a form
of empiricism have often rejected the idea that metaphysics can be found in
Buddhism. It may be more correct to say that it is speculation that is
eschewed in Buddhism, rather than Buddhism holds no metaphysical
implications, unless one is referring to a Buddhist thinker like Nagarjuna.

There are two papers, 'The Buddhist Empiricism Thesis' and 'Buddhist Belief
"In"', published in the 1980's by Frank J. Hoffman which relate to the
above mentioned controversy and may be found in Religious Studies Vol. 18
no. 2, June 1982, and Vol. 21 no. 3, Sept. 1985.

Florin G. Sutton, Existence and Gnosis in the Lankavatara Sutra: A Study in
the Ontology and Epistemology of the Yogacara School of Mahayana Buddhism
(Albany): SUNY, 1990) is a work of interest on ontology. Of related
interest is Bruce C. Hall's explanation of the nature of Vasubandhu's
'idealism' in such a way as to render the label moot in his Journal of the
International Association of Buddhist Studies article (Vol. 9 no. 1, 1986).

F. Buddhism and Philosophy of Religion

General works on philosophy and religion which include Buddhism are few and
far between. Mention may be made of William H. Capitan, Philosophy of
Religion: An Introduction (Indianapolis: Pegasus, 1972) as one of a very
few philosophy of religion works with anything on Asia. John Hick,
Philosophy of Religion (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1990 4th ed.) addresses
some topics relevant to a study of Buddhism and Asian thought. Co-edited
with Paul Knitter, Hicks's The Myth of Christian Uniqueness (Maryknoll:
Orbis Books, 1988) is well worth reading. For an interesting contrastive
study see Paul J. Griffiths, Christianity Through Non-Christian Eyes
(Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1990).

1. Concepts of Issara (Creator God), Devas (gods), and Buddhas (enlightened
ones). Gunapala Dharmasiri, A Buddhist Critique of the Christian Concept of
God (Colombo: Lake House, 1974) shows in detail how and why Christian
concepts of a Creator God have no application in early Buddhism.

B. M. Barua, Studies in Buddhism (Calcutta: Sarasvat Library, 1974) argued
that "Buddhism is that form of Bhagavatism which derives its traits from
the contemplation of the attributes of Buddha as Bhagavan --a form of
devotional faith" (p. 136). Sallie King, Buddha Nature (Albany: SUNY Press,
forthcoming) and Paul Griffiths, 'Buddha and God: A Contrastive Study in
Maximal Greatness; in Journal of Religion (Vol. 69, October 1989) also
speak to the problem of interpreting Buddhahood.

Roger Corless and Paul Knitter (Eds), Buddhist Emptiness and Christian
Trinity (New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1990) is a work of interest on an
unusual juxtaposition of topics. Alice Getty, The Gods of Northern Buddhism
(New York: Dover, 1988) explains the history and iconography of various
sorts of Buddhas and deities, and may be useful background prior to
consulting the former work.

2. Buddhist-Christian dialogue (East Asia). The Buddhist-Christian dialogue
may be viewed as the greatest opportunity for Buddhists to discover more
about their own positions since the days of the Silk Road trade. But since
much of this dialogue is still emergent, it is difficult to map with any
precision.

Hajime Nakamura, Buddhism in Comparative Light (Motilal, 1975/1986) is a
comparative study of Buddhism and Christianity written by an eminent
Japanese authority. Likewise, Chai-Shin Yu, Early Buddhism and Christianity
(Motilal, 1981/1986) writes a Buddhist-Christian comparative work but with
a Chinese emphasis.

As William Lafleur ably explains, the philosophy of Nishida Kitaro and that
of the Kyoto School which he spawned came over the decades to be
preoccupied with questions of the relationship between Buddhism and
philosophical discourse. In the beginning, however, some of Nishida's
students, such as (the Marxist) Tosaka Jun, had no interest in Buddhism.
After Nishida's death in 1945 the Kyoto School was strongly influenced by
existentialism, especially through the work of Nishitani and Hisamatsu
Shin'ichi. For these thinkers one main problem was how to be religious
without recourse to a deity, and Buddhist tradition was studied with a view
to finding a solution within it. For example, Shin'ichi Hisamatsu's
article, 'Characteristics of Oriental Nothingness; in Philosophical Studies
of Japan (1960) is one such attempt. Another is represented by Watsuji
Tetsuro, who followed his studies of Nietzsche and Kierkegaard with 'The
Practical Philosophy of Early Buddhism' (Genshi Bukkyo on Jissen Tetsugaku
(1927, as yet untranslated) briefly discussed by Yuasa in The Body (p. 86).

The influence of analytic philosophy on contemporary Buddhist philosophy in
Japan is minuscule compared to that of existentialism and German
philosophy. Schopenhauer, for example, is much more important in Japanese
philosophical circles than in Anglo-American ones. Their earlier and
continuing affinity with German developments occupied the Japanese at a
time when the analytic tradition was developing in the Anglo-American
world. Also, the Kyoto school for the most part regards analytic
philosophers as insufficiently attentive to the core problems of human
existence, especially that of death. In addition, the massive amount of
death and suffering at Hiroshima and Nagasaki could not be far from the
minds of intellectuals in immediate post-World War II Japan. Instead of
viewing analytic techniques as useful for clarifying problems in the
philosophy of religion, Kyoto school thinkers tend to regard philosophical
analysis as a distraction from more fundamental problems of human
existence. Influenced by Martin Heidegger, Nishitani addresses himself to
the problem of nihilism, arguing that the problem of modern nihilism is
more easily dealt with by Buddhists than by Christians.

Just as they are comparatively unmoved by the niceties of analytic
philosophy, so too the 'God is dead' movement is irrelevant to the Kyoto
school. Both Keiji Nishitani and Watsuji Tetsuro (1889-1960) held that
since the problem of the existence of God does not arise in Buddhism, the
philosophical-cultural 'reaction' of the 'God is dead' movement is
irrelevant in the Kyoto School context.

Zen and Western Thought (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1985) by
Masao Abe is a prize-winning work of interest to philosophers and
religionists alike. The work articulates what it means to be a Buddhist
philosopher in our time and illuminates some of the hidden presuppositions
of Western tradition. Overall the emphasis is on our common humanity.

Winston L. King, Death Was His Koan: the Samurai Zen of Suzuki Shosan
(Freemont: Asian Humanities Press, 1986) may be of some interest to
Buddhist-Christian dialogians for its probing of the intellectual currents
of Suzuki Shosan's attack on Christianity as an enemy of Buddhism and
Japan.

3. Buddhist-Christian dialogue (South Asia). Donald Lopez and Steven
Rockefeller (Eds) The Christ and the Bodhisattva (Albany: SUNY Press, 1987)
have compiled an anthology concerning what it is to belong and what it is
to be open to the religious experience of others in Buddhist and Christian
contexts.

Ninian Smart, Concept and Empathy: Essays in the Study of Religion, Ed. by
Donald Wiebe (Albany: New York University Press, 1986). This collection of
Ninian Smart's essays span two decades, and are set forth under three
rubrics: philosophy and the study of religion, comparative study of
religion, methodological issues in the study of religion. Also of interest
under this rubric is Smart's A Dialogue of Religions (Westport: Greenwood,
1981).

An interesting form that Buddhist-Christian cooperation can take is that of
joint translation projects. A noteworthy example is John Ross Carter and
Mahinda Palihawadana (Eds) The Dhammapada (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1987), a volume which makes use of the commentaries and is likely to be a
standard translation for a long time.

Arthur L. Herman, The Problem of Evil in Indian Thought (Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass, 1976/1990) is worth consulting as an example of
philosophically stimulating work on parallel problems in East and West. A
persistent inquirer who is inclined to probe in true Socratic fashion what
many take as obvious, Herman is among the most daring and philosophical in
his approach. His An Introduction to Buddhist Thought: A Philosophical
History of Indian Buddhism (Lanham: University Press of America, 1983) is a
useful textbook.

Lynn A. De Silva, The Problem of the Self in Buddhism and Christianity
(Colombo: Study Centre for Religion and Society, 1975 and later reprinted
with foreword by John Hick) does not believe that mind/body dualism is
biblical, but instead that Buddhism's anatta and Christianity are
compatible. They are even working on the same problem of understanding
authentic selfhood, a problem which is supposed to be solved by
understanding person-in-relation.

Overall, several thinkers who are philosophical theologians are also worth
reading on Buddhist-Christian dialogue, such as Paul Knitter, David Tracy,
Frank Reynolds, Roger Corless and John Hick. An important new work of
interest in this vein is Frank Reynolds and David Tracy, Myth and
Philosophy (Toward a Comparative Philosophy of Religions) (Albany: SUNY
Press, 1990).

4. Religious parallels between Buddhism and Hinduism. K. N. Upadhyaya,
Early Buddhism and the Bhagavadgita (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1971) is a
splendid work: detailed, scholarly, and meticulous.

G. Buddhism and Aesthetics

One of the best ways to cultivate an appreciation of Buddhism is by
understanding Buddhist art and its interplay with nature. If the
etymological meaning, aesthetikos, as a type of perception is emphasised
rather than problems in analytic aesthetics, then aesthetics can provide a
fruitful introduction to Buddhism. Exposure to images and patterns is
essential. For a South Asian perspective Anaada K. Coomaraswamy in The
Dance of Shiva (New York: Dover, 1985) provides a valuable point of
departure, as does Kakuzo Okakura, The Book of Tea (New York: Dover, 1964)
on the East Asian side. Philosophers interested in Asian aesthetics and
Buddhism would do well to read Arthur Waley (tr.) The No Plays of Japan
(New York: Grove Press, 1957) and savour the Buddhistic undercurrents.

Eliot Deutsch in Comparative Aesthetics (Honolulu: University of Hawaii
Press, 1975) has produced a philosophically interesting monograph which
makes the problems of aesthetics emerge from a consideration of particular
works of art. Hisamatsu Shin'ichi, Zen and the Fine Arts (Tokyo: Kodansha,
1982) is also an important and accessible work on aesthetics.

William R. Lafleur, The Karma of Words (Berkeley and Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 1988) is a well-written work of special
interest for its perspective on Japanese aesthetics.

Heinrich Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism -- A History: Japan (New York: Macmillan,
1988-1990), translated by Gregory Alles and Paul Knitter, is a magnum opus
likely to be a standard work for a long time.

Zen and religious thought is a topic which might be included either under
aesthetics or under that of philosophy of religion. The following
incomplete sampling are some representative authors worth consulting on
Zen: Robert Aitken, Chung-yuan Chang, Thomas Cleary, Phillip Kapleau,
Thomas Kasulis, Sunim Kusan, Robert Linssen, Katsuki Sekida, D. T. Suzuki,
Philip B. Yampolsky and Alan W. Watts.

H. Buddhism and Philosophy of Mind

Here the work of Paul J. Griffiths looms large. His On Being Mindless
(LaSalle, IL: Open Court, 1986) is a major contribution to the field,
having as it does the twin virtues of Sanskritic detail and serious
attention to philosophical arguments. A prolific writer, Griffiths is one
of the very best of the younger generation of Buddhologists.

Steven Collins, Selfless Persons (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1982) is an important study of Theravada Buddhism from a perspective that
will especially interest those trained in humanities or classics. A
noteworthy feature of this work is attention to various kinds of imagery in
Buddhist thought, such as vegetation imagery. In collaboration with some
philosophers Collins has also produced The Category of the Person
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985).

Jan Ergardt, Man and His Destiny (Leiden: Brill, 1986) offers a detailed
study of citta ('mind') in early Buddhism. Lati Rinbochay (tr. and intr. by
Elizabeth Napper), Mind in Tibetan Buddhism (Ithaca: Snow Lion Press, 1980)
presents a Tibetan perspective on the topic.

Yasuo Yuasa, The Body: Toward an Eastern Mind-Body Theory (Albany: SUNY
Press, 1987) is a detailed, philosophically interesting yet
interdisciplinary study of mind/body. Continuing the tradition of Watsuji
Tetsuro and in contradistinction to Western views such as that of
Descartes, Yuasa emphasises that mind/body unity is an achievement rather
than an essential given. In this he calls attention to the Japanese
Buddhist concern with deepening integration between mind and body in
contrast to the European concern with how this interaction takes place.
Yuasa focuses upon variation in mind instead of on what the mind/body is
essentially. The interface between science and religion is opened up in
this comparative work, and attention is paid to Japanese thinkers such as
Watsuii, Nishida, Dogen, and Kukai. Erudite and stimulating, Yuasa's work
is worthy of careful consideration and the translators Thomas Kasulis and
Shigenori Nagatomo are to be commended for introducing his work to the
West.

Frank J. Hoffman, Rationality and Mind in Early Buddhism (Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass, 1987) presents a synthesis of Pali Buddhism and contemporary
philosophy. He argues against charges that early Buddhism is unintelligible
and pessimistic. Mind plays a crucial role in early Buddhism, particularly
in connection with the doctrine of rebirth, a view which fits snugly into
the conception background of early Buddhism but which may be questioned by
philosophically inclined outsiders. The thesis that Buddhism is a form of
empiricism is rejected in favour of a view of meaning that does not require
falsification. Eternal life is understood as 'not mortal' (amata), not
limited by birth and death. Throughout, Hoffman advocates and exemplifies a
philosophical approach to Pali Buddhist texts.

David J. Kalupahana's The Principles of Buddhist Psychology (Albany: SUNY
Press, 1987), although more an outline than a comprehensive study of the
topic, has been well received by some of the thinkers working on the
interface between Buddhism and Pragmatism.

Nathan Katz (Ed.), Buddhist and Western Psychology (Boulder: Great Eastern
Book Co., Prajna Press, 1983) is a work in which several of the
contributors (e.g. Trungpa, Katz and Guenther) demonstrate awareness of the
problem of reductionism, and some (Trungpa and Katz) point specifically to
a problem of reducing Eastern thought to fit Western categories. But
reductionism can take various forms, and although it is dubious whether
Buddhism can be reduced to any Western psychological or philosophical
school without distortion, it is equally dubious whether Buddhism can be
reduced to Western therapeutic training without remainder. One important
question which this anthology gives rise to is: to what extent is a
psychological interpretation of Buddhism in terms of Western categories
possible, so that Buddhism is 'explained' without being 'explained away'? A
reflective answer to this question would take into account that Buddhism is
not merely a matter of technique, but a matter of religious and
philosophical commitment as well.

I. Buddhism and Philosophy of Science

Ramakrishna Puligandla and Fritjof Capra, in South and East Asian contexts
respectively, have called attention to the experientialist orientation of
Asian philosophies and their affinity with physics. Whether, and if so in
what sense, Asian philosophies may be rightly called 'empirical', however,
is a moot question. Puligandla's An Encounter With Awareness (Boston:
Theosophical Publishing House, 1981) and Capra's The Tao of Physics: an
exploration of the parallels between modern physics and Eastern mysticism
(Boulder: Shambala, 1983) are worth reading in this connection.

In the Japan of the early twentieth century, Inoue and Murakami (as
mentioned above regarding Nakamura), worked reconciling karmic causality
ideas with modern Western ones and comparing Buddhism (usually more closely
with science) and Christianity.

J. Buddhism and Socio-political Thought

Buddhism has many faces, and sometimes presents an engaged philosophy of
social action. Walpola Rahula, The Heritage of the Bhikkhu (New York: Grove
Press, 1974) is a good example, as is Ken Jones, The Social Face of
Buddhism: An Approach to Political and Social Activism (London: Wisdom,
1989).

Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares
to Modern Colombo (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1988) includes a chapter
on 'Current trends, new problems'.

For a less academic but more trendy approach, with ecological and Buddhist
overtones, consult Fritjof Capra, Green Politics (New York: Dutton, 1984).

III. Buddhism and the Schools of Philosophy

A. Analytic Philosophy

Comparisons between analytic philosophy and Buddhist thought often cut both
ways. To be sure, Buddhist suspicion of substantialist sorts of
metaphysics, God and soul, is in keeping with the tenor of mainstream
twentieth century philosophy. Equally salient, however, is Buddhist
commitment to a path of salvation, in contrast to mainstream twentieth
century philosophy. Consequently it is sometimes erroneously thought that
Western analytic philosophy and Asian philosophy are simply
incommensurable, such that comparisons between them are jejune and
unacceptable. The inadequacy of this view was shown by Chris Gudmunsen, who
produced a fine study of Russell and Abhidharma thought, Wittgenstein and
Buddhism (London: Macmillan, 1977).

More recently Paul Griffiths, although working in theology departments, has
called attention to the logic of the Buddhist tradition in such a way as to
do a service to analytic philosophy in works such as On Being Mindless
(Lasalle: Open Court, 1987). A prolific writer of detailed scholarly
articles, he has recently produced (with John P. Keenan) The Realm of
Awakening: Chapter Ten of Asanga's Mahayanasamgraha (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1989).

Stefan Anacker, Seven Works of Vasubandhu, The Buddhist Psychological
Doctor (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1987) is a worthy addition to any
Buddhist library. There is a section on logic, some criticisms of atomism,
and many other points of interest to the analytically inclined philosopher.
Together with T. A. Kochumuttom, A Buddhist Doctrine of Experience (Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass, 1989), which argues for similarity between Yogacara
metaphysics and early Buddhism, Anacker's work fills out our understanding
of Vasubandhu considerably.

Nolan Pliny Jacobson, Buddhism: The Religion of Analysis (London: Allen &
Unwin, 1966 reprinted by SIU Press 1970/1974) offers an introductory but
useful perspective on basic Buddhism.

B. Pragmatism

As Kenneth K. Inada and Nolan P. Jacobson, Buddhism and American Thinkers
(New York: SUNY Press, 1984.) show in their introduction, there is ample
ground for discussion on the interface between Buddhology and philosophy by
way of Alfred N. Whitehead and C. S. Pierce. Although the contributors to
this anthology are virtually united in their rejection of
substance/attribute metaphysics and subject/object epistemology, beyond
this point each uses the occasion as a springboard for developing their own
thoughts in diverse directions.

The volume contains essays by Charles Hartshorne, David Hall, Nolan
Jacobson, Jay McDaniel, Kenneth Inada, David Miller, Richard Chi, Robert
Neville and Hajime Nakamura. Their work is introduced by prefatory remarks
and is unified at one sweep by a perspicuous panoramic introduction written
by Inada and Jacobson. The prefatory remarks and introduction ensure a
degree of coherence in what otherwise would have been a disjointed series
of essays.

Also worth consulting is the somewhat more scholastic work by David J.
Kalupahana Principles of Buddhist Psychology (Albany, NY: SUNY Press,
1987).

C. Existentialism

With its emphasis on the anxiety of the human condition (compare and
contrast with dukkha or suffering), the importance of choice, thrownness,
etc. existentialism is a fertile ground for comparisons with Buddhist
thought. Padmasiri De Silva is one of those to emphasise this point in
Tangles and Webs: Comparative Studies in Existentialism, Psychoanalysis and
Buddhism with a foreword by Ninian Smart (Colombo: Lake House, 1974/1976);
also see Padmasiri De Silva, Buddhist and Freudian Psychology (Colombo:
Lake House, 1973/1978).

Indeed, if Schopenhauer is an existentialist, then it is arguable that one
of the school's leading representatives is sympathetic to Buddhism. In this
connection Bryan Magee, The Philosophy of Schopenhauer (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1983) and Bhikkhu Nanajivako's monograph, Schopenhauer
and Buddhism (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1970) are noteworthy.

Stephen Batchelor, Alone With Others: An Existential Approach to Buddhism
(New York: Grove, 1983) is one of those rare works which attempt to bridge
the gap between the emic or inside meaning of a tradition and its eric or
external meaning to others. On this point it is an existential counterpart
to the more analytic study of Buddhism by Frank J. Hoffman, Rationality and
Mind in Early Buddhism (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1987). Batchelor writes
within his own linguistic and cultural frame of reference to articulate his
faith in Buddhism. Existential writers are referred to, but not as a matter
of detached scholarly study.

In Japan the Kyoto School has emphasised comparisons between Buddhism and
Existentialism. (See Buddhist-Christian Dialogue (East Asia) above and
Japan below.)

D. Phenomenology

Ramakrishna Puligandla has emphasised the use of the term 'phenomenology'
in application to Buddhist and Hindu thought and experience. His work,
Jnana-yoga (Lanham: University Press of America, 1985) shows the
application of phenomenology to 'the way of knowledge' in Hinduism, but
mutatis mutandis some of what he says there may be applied to Buddhism as
well. Puligandla, An Encounter with Awareness (Boston: Theosophical
Publishing House, 1981) is a blistering attack on what he regards as the
sterility and inanity of contemporary Anglo-American analytic philosophy.
Puligandla argues for a view of the self (not soul or ego) as awareness,
opposes reductionism, and favours a view of philosophy as concerned with
understanding the nature of man and world. Puligandla's philosophical
approach throughout is admirable.

A recent book of considerable interest to those who, like Puligandla,
favour a phenomenological orientation to Buddhism is David Loy, Nonduality
(New Haven: Yale, 1989). Loy advocates the thesis that there is a 'core
theory' underlying Asian views.

David Edward Shaner, The Bodymind Experience in Japanese Buddhism (Albany:
SUNY Press, 1985) drives the thesis that Western phenomenological method is
useful for explaining the structure of mind/body experience, and that
mind/body experience is a central theme for understanding Kukai and Dogen.

Anagarika Govinda, The Psychological Attitude of Early Buddhist Philosophy
(Delhi: Nag, 1975 reprint) takes a phenomenological approach in saying:
"The only world of which the Buddhist speaks is one conscious universe
which can be experienced in the microcosms of the human mind and which is
represented by the various stages of life and realized by innumerable kinds
of living beings" (p. 245).

J. F. Staal, Exploring Mysticism (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1975) is something of a 1970s classic with Staal as guru. The work is a
lively, provocative one which defends meditative mysticism against charges
of irrationality.

E. Deconstruction and Hermeneutics

The recent trend in Western philosophy called 'deconstruction' also appears
to have some parallels in Asian philosophy. Nagarjuna, for example, may be
regarded as offering a deconstruction of standard Buddhist doctrines while
nevertheless saluting the Buddha. Through the efforts of Western scholars
such as W. LaFleur one hears of Japanese works in a deconstructionist vein,
such as Nakamura Yujiro, Nishida Tetsugaku no Datsukochiku ('Deconstructing
Nishida's Philosophy'). Under this rubric one also finds Tanabe Hajime,
Philosophy as Melanoetics (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990).

An interest in 'hermeneutics', variously interpreted, occurs in recent
works such as Donald S. Lopez (Ed.), Buddhist Hermeneutics (Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 1988) and Jeffrey Timm (Ed.), Traditional
Hermeneutics (Albany: SUNY Press, forthcoming).

Branches of Buddhism may be more or less amenable to categorisation as
deconstructionist, and one should be wary of overgeneralising and mindful
of definitional issues in this regard.

F. Comparative Philosophy

'Comparative Philosophy' is a label for a very loosely unified movement of
philosophers who regard attention to Oriental thought as significant for
their philosophical work. Many are members of the Society for Asian and
Comparative Philosophy, begun by Charles A. Moore, author of Philosophy:
East and West (Salem: Ayer Co. Pubs., 1944); Philosophy and Culture, East &
West: East-West Philosophy in Practical Perspective (Honolulu: University
of Hawaii Press, 1962) and other works.

At the University of Hawaii just after World War II Moore and others did a
great deal to stimulate interest in comparative philosophy. Concentrating
on East Asia, Moore's edited works, Chinese Mind (Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press, 1967) and Japanese Mind (Honolulu: University of Hawaii
Press, 1967), show the sympathetic treatment of Oriental thought
characteristic of the opening phase of comparative philosophy.

Nowadays it is difficult to generalise accurately about comparative
philosophy, and there are various kinds of cases including the following.
Some of these philosophers believe that there are philosophical problems
which are 'the same' or at least 'similar' when East and West meet and that
the main job of philosophy is to focus on philosophical problems; others
are interested in a 'descriptive science' of philosophy which would be
incomplete without the inclusion of Asian material. Some have an agenda
(hidden or not) of championing what they regard as the superiority of
selected Asian thinkers or traditions; others have no such a priori agenda
(although in practice it often turns out in their work that Asian thinkers
or traditions are vindicated in the face of criticism). Some take an
ontological approach and suffuse their philosophising with religious
overtones; others take the logician's approach and let the chips fall where
they may. With such plurality even within 'comparative philosophy', the
term is probably more useful to library cataloguers than to philosophers
themselves. In this article its importance is that Buddhism is often
treated by philosophers who consider themselves comparativists.

Paul Masson-Oursel, Comparative Philosophy (London: Kegan Paul, 1926) has
numerous references to Buddhism throughout his work. His favoured approach
is 'positivity in philosophy' with special emphasis on logic, metaphysics
and psychology which works towards the goal of scientific progress and an
appreciation of the history of ideas.

P. T. Raju in several works champions the comparative approach.
Introduction to Comparative Philosophy (Carbondale: SIU Press, 1970),
Spirit, Being and Self: Studies in Indian and Western Philosophy (Columbia:
South Asia Books, 1986 reprint of the 1982 Asia Book Corp. edition), The
Philosophical Traditions of India (London: Allen & Unwin, 1971) and
Structural Depths of Indian Thought (Albany: SUNY Press, 1985).

Raju's Philosophical Traditions has a chapter on 'The Heterodox Tradition
of Buddhism', which nomenclature (although traditional) reveals an
ambivalent tendency of many contemporary Indian philosophers to at once
accommodate Buddhism and yet to set it off to one side. Their influence
even filters down to some non-Indian interpreters of Buddhism who indulge
in all sorts of intellectual acrobatics to find 'divine revelation' and
'true self' in early Indian Buddhism.

Raju's Structural Depths has a chapter on Buddhism emphasising the
continuity of Buddhism within the Indian tradition such that "if the
Ajivikas and Carvakas can be Hindus, there is every justification to call
Jainism and Buddhism forms of Hinduism" (p. 147). Regardless of whether one
thinks that this is the point of elasticity where the term 'Hinduism'
snaps, Raju's text is a useful course textbook with many interesting
details for specialist and student alike.

Eliot Deutsch, Studies in Comparative Aesthetics (Honolulu: Hawaii, 1975)
has tangential value for understanding contemporary Buddhist thought in his
treatment of Zeami's views on Buddhist-suffused Noh drama. In three essays
on three traditions (Indian, Chinese and Japanese) Deutsch exemplifies a
problem-oriented approach which appeals to many contemporary philosophers.

Charlene McDermott (Ed.) Comparative Philosophy (Lanham: University Press
of America, 1983) presents a valuable collection of essays on epistemology
and metaphysics. The work provides stimulating juxtapositions of Eastern
and Western thinkers selected with an eye for contemporary philosophical
issues.

Nolan Pliny Jacobson, Buddhism: The Religion of Analysis (London: Allen &
Unwin, 1966 reprinted by SIU Press) has much sensitive comparison and is
replete with references to Western philosophers such as David Hume and
Ludwig Wittgenstein. This accomplishment is arguably not surpassed by
Jacobson's later publications, The Heart of Buddhist Philosophy
(Carbondale: SIU Press, 1988), Understanding Buddhism (Carbondale: SIU
Press, 1985) and Buddhism and the Contemporary World: Change and
Self-correction (Carbondale: SIU Press, 1982).

Jacobson's co-edited volume with Kenneth K. Inada, Buddhism and American
Thinkers (Albany: SUNY Press, 1984) is a valuable contribution to
comparative philosophy on the contemporary scene. It includes essays from
leading comparativists, such as Hajime Nakamura.

Archie Bahm, Comparative Philosophy (Albuquerque: World Books, 1978) and,
in Korea, his associate, Min-hong Choi, Comparative Philosophy: Western and
Korean Philosophies Compared (Seoul: Seong Moon Sa, 1980) may also be
mentioned in this connection. In true East Asian fashion, Choi asserts:
"The ultimate objective of comparative studies, not only in philosophy, but
also in all other fields of scholarship, lies in harmony" (p. 98).

The several works of Arthur Herman, John Koller and Ramakrishna Puligandla
indicate that comparative philosophy is flourishing today.

IV. Buddhist Philosophy in Culture: Works Written from a Cultural
Perspective but with some Philosophical Interest

A. Mainland China and Taiwan

Chung-yuan Chang, Creativity and Taoism (New York: Harper 1971), Original
Teachings of Ch'an Buddhism (New York: Grove Press, 1969) and Tao: A New
Way of Thinking (New York: Harper, 1977) was one of the twentieth century's
great masters of interpreting Taoism and Zen (within which matrices he
found many affinities) for the West. He stimulated special interest in
comparative philosophy by way of Heidegger and Taoism in his translation
and commentary on the Tao Te Ching.

Robert M. Gimello and Peter Gregory, Studies in Ch'an and Hua-yen
(Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press with Kuroda Institute, 1983) has
papers by Jeffrey Broughton, Luis O. Gomez, John R. McRae, Peter N. Gregory
and Robert M. Gimello. In the Preface Gimello observes that Buddhist
scholars "are now less inclined than they once were to abstract their
subject from its various, complex, and everchanging cultural contexts. They
are as much interested in exploring the web of its relationships with other
components of East Asian civilization as they are in tracing the
intricacies of its philology and the internal patterns of its thought" (pp.
ix-x).

Thome Fang, The Chinese View of Life (Taiwan: Linking Publishing Co., 1980)
and his Creativity in Man and Nature (Taiwan: Linking Publishing Co., 1980)
are sparking renewed interest in the 1990s thanks to the efforts of George
Sun, editor of the journal Comprehensive Harmony, an international and
interdisciplinary journal encompassing many horizons but formed in honour
of Thome Fang.

Fung Yu-lan, A Short History of Chinese Philosophy (New York: Free Press,
1966) and History of Chinese Philosophy, two vols. tr. Derke Bodde (New
Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1952-53) produced valuable material for
those interested in the history of philosophy.

Works of interest under this rubric are A. C. Graham, Disputers of the Tao
(LaSalle, IL: Open Court, 1989), his Studies in Chinese Philosophy and
Philosophical Literature (Albany: SUNY Press, 1990) and Arthur F. Wright,
Studies in Chinese Buddhism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990).

B. India and Tibet

Karl Potter, Guide to Indian Philosophy (New York: G. K. Hall & Co., 1988)
is an excellent annotated bibliography and research tool. It would be
foolhardy to attempt to chop wood for the master woodchopper, and so the
reader is referred to Potter.

Under this rubric it is sufficient to emphasise a few works of special
interest not included in the above discussion of branches and schools:
Agehananda Bharati, The Tantric Tradition (new version to be issued as
Tantric Traditions) Herbert V. Guenther, Buddhist Philosophy In Theory and
Practice (Boulder and London: Shambala, 1976), Edward Conze, Buddhist
Thought in India (London: Allen and Unwin, 1962 reprinted by University of
Michigan, 1967) and Yoshinori Takeuchi, tr. and ed. by James W. Heisig, The
Heart of Buddhism: In Search of the Timeless Spirit of Primitive Buddhism
(New York: Crossroad, 1983).

A work that has been awaited with interest is Hirakawa Akira, A History of
Indian Buddhism: From Sakyamuni to Nagarjuna (Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press, 1990).

C. Japan

Almost by default, the Japanese have been much more enterprising in working
in cross-cultural philosophy than either the Koreans or the Chinese. Even
D. T. Suzuki, who is not usually thought of as a comparative philosopher
but as a Zen man, has a comparative essay on Meister Eckhart in On Indian
Mahayana Buddhism (New York: Harper, 1968). For basic reference on Japanese
Buddhism, see Alicia and Daigan Matsunaga, Foundations of Japanese
Buddhism, Vols. I and II. (Los Angeles and Tokyo: Buddhist Books
International, 1976).

Hajime Nakamura, in Kindai Nihon Tetsugaku Shisoka Jiten, has dictionary
entries on both Enryo Inoue (1858-1919) and Sensho Murakami (1851-1929).
These pioneering figures in early twentieth-century Japan attempt to defend
Buddhism in view of the impact of Western philosophy. For instance, the
topic of Karma was taken up by these thinkers in its relation to Western
ideas of causality. (For additional details and translations see Kathleen
Staggs' articles in Monumenta Nipponica.)

Masao Abe, Zen and Western Thought (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press,
1985), deals with Western thinkers such as Nietzsche and Tillich while
relating his thought to the main trends in interpreting religion and
science in culture. Throughout the Zen perspective is evident.

William Lafleur (Ed.) Dogen Studies (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press,
1985) includes interesting essays by Kasulis, Abe, Maraldo, Lafleur et al.
The introductory essay by Lafleur is presented in dialogue form, and
adroitly reveals the interplay of diverse disciplinary perspectives on the
Buddhist hermeneutical front.

T. P. Kasulis, Zen Action/Zen Person (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press,
1981) is a philosophically worthwhile work which makes the philosophical
problems emerge from considerations of Japanese language.

In addition to works of direct philosophical interest, there are also
contemporary translations with commentaries which serve as useful
background material for philosophical reflection about Japan. Noteable
among them are Phillip Yampolsky (Ed.) The Platform Sutra of the Sixth
Patriarch (New York: Columbia University Press, 1967); Yampolsky's The Zen
Master Hakuin: Selected Writings (New York: Columbia, 1971) and Yoshito
Hakeda, Kukai: Major Works (New York: Columbia, 1972).

Chikao Fujisawa, Zen and Shinto: the Story of Japanese Philosophy
(Westport: Greenwood, 1971), a New York reprint of the Philosophical
Library edition of 1959, is a philosophical work from a Neo-Shinto
perspective. The author attempts a dialectical synthesis of capitalism and
communism, which in view of perestroika makes it surprisingly up-to-date,
and offers an interpretation of Zen emphasizing Shinto roots.

D. Korea

As with Japan and China, it is difficult to pinpoint major works produced
by Korean Buddhists or scholars of Korean Buddhism that have direct
connections to the branches or schools of Western philosophy (e.g.
typically, a single East-Asian work spans several branches and represents a
perspective not already contained within any Western school).

Notice should be taken of Hee-sung Keel, Chinul (Seoul: Pojinjae, Berkeley
Buddhist Studies Series, 1984), Robert E. Buswell, The Korean Approach to
Zen: The Collected Works of Chinul (University of Hawaii Press, 1983) and
Sung Bae Park, Buddhist Faith and Sudden Enlightenment (New York: State
University of New York Press, 1983). Also noteworthy is Mu Soeng Sunim,
Thousand Peaks: Korean Zen -- Tradition and Teachers (Berkeley: Parallax
Press, 1987). In Korea, two publications of special note are International
Cultural Foundation, Buddhist Culture in Korea, Korean Culture Series Vol.
3 (Seoul: Si-sa-yong-o-sa Publishers, 1982), a collection of essays by
korean scholars on buddhist thought and art, and sun keun lee and ki yong
rhi, buddhism and the modern world (seoul: dongguk university, 1976). in
recent years the international cultural society of korea (seoul) deserves
mention for stimulating the interest of foreign scholars in studying korean
buddhism and culture.

Works of interest to Korean Buddhist specialists are Robert E. Buswell
(Ed.), Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press,
1990) and Lewis Lancaster, Assimilation of Buddhism in Korea (Berkeley:
Asian Humanities Press, 1991).

In contemporary Buddhist thought there are many currents which are not in
mainstream academic philosophy but are nevertheless influential. One
thinks, for example, of the Chinese businessman C. T. Shen's Mayflower II
(Institute for the Advanced Study of World Religions, 1982), of the
Japanese Gyomay M. Kubose's The Center Within (Heian International, 1986),
of the Vietnamese Thich Nhat Hahn's The Sun, My Heart (Berkeley: Parallax
Press, 1988), of Thomas Merton's Zen and the Birds of Appetite (New York:
New Directions, 1968) and of the American Roshi Aitken's Mind of Clover
(San Francisco: North Point Press, 1984). There is no space for listing all
their publications in detail or those of others (including the Buddhistic
poetry of Gary Snyder) who are worthy of mention.

V. Contemporary Buddhist Philosophy in the 1990s and Beyond

In an entry of this kind the reader may justifiably hope for some sense of
'what's happening now'. Even as this sentence is typed the 'now' recedes
into the past and the present slides onward towards the 1992 publication
date. I will venture a few remarks without the aid of any New Age crystal
ball.

First, economically, one notices a movement of research, grants, and
grant-related activities towards, on the one hand, East Asia (especially
Japan) and on the other hand towards Tibet. Even scholars with training in
South Asia appear to be shifting somewhat to accommodate East Asian
Mahayana perspectives on their work. And then there are the many
untranslated Tibetan manuscripts (in the Harvrd Yen-Ching Institute, for
example). There are doubtless political and economic realities behind these
current emphases.

Second, socially viewed, there is the rise of numerous meditation
institutes such as are listed in the useful reference work by Don Morreale,
Buddhist America: Centers, Retreats, Practices (Santa Fe: John Muir, 1988)
and also in the International Buddhist Directory (Wisdom, 1985). Rick
Fields, How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in
America (Boston and London: Shambala, 1986) tells how the lotus unfolds.

There is even the rise of a new type of meta-level institute exemplified by
the Buddhist leader, Havanpola Ratanasara, who organises Buddhists from
several cultures in his work in Los Angeles through programmes of the
College of Buddhist Studies, and is active in dialogue with other religions
as well. Buddhist groups in the USA easily become isolated linguistic and
cultural enclaves. Yet some have seen the need to increase co-operation
between these enclaves and between Buddhists altogether and the mainstream
(predominantly Christian) culture. Whereas Ratanasara's enterprise would be
a difficult undertaking in any specific Asian country, Western countries
such as the USA are in good positions to facilitate the emergence of these
meta-institutes which transcend ethnic enclaves, oppose cultural tribalism,
and make for mutual understanding among Buddhists in the contemporary
world.

As for social and academic opportunities, the meeting of college professors
through those of the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer
Institutes and Summer Seminars which pertain to Asia function effectively
to promote knowledge of Asian culture, of which Buddhism is one element.
Also, The Summer Seminars on the Sutras (sponsored by Jemez Bodhi Mandala,
New Mexico) which combine meditation practice with scholarly endeavour are
another important contemporary social development nowadays. Credit should
be given to the Kuroda Institute for extending substantial scholarly
support for publications.

Third, politically, there is the development of political activism which is
explicitly Buddhistic in its vegetarian, feminist, animal rights
orientation in ways that cut across sectarian lines. Directories such as
those mentioned above facilitate contacts among those interested in
Buddhism.

Fourth, internationally, the events contributing towards a more unified
European alliance and those which conditioned the decline in the heretofore
monolithic Soviet domination of minorities together set the stage for the
emergence of more East European publications sympathetic to Buddhistic
thinking, such as Yugoslavia's Kulture Istoka or 'Eastern Culture'
quarterly edited by Dusan Paijin in Novi Beograd.

Fifth, is the development of communications media such as computer
networks, the use of computers for day-to-day on-line communications and
text transmission work (such as the Columbia University Pali Canon CD ROM
Project with Berkeley's Lewis Lancaster et al.). Various newsletters, such
as Southern Dharma (Hot Springs, NC) and Dharma Voice (Los Angeles, CA)
facilitate communication for the meditation minded.

Factors such as the foregoing contribute towards a concrescence of
Buddhistic feeling, what Nolan Pliny Jacobson called "thinking from the
soft underside of the mind". One result might be a sympathetic attunement
among Buddhist groups such that they seek points of cooperation where there
are sectarian divisions, such that they work better together for a world of
cooperation and religious freedom.

The construction of a deep theoretical basis for Buddhist ethics taking
into account the work of Saddhatissa and others which provides a unifying
framework of intra-Buddhistic cooperation is a desideratum. Another
challenging task would be the construction of a 'Philosophy of Buddhist
Religion' (distinct from both the entirely emic (or internal) 'Buddhist
Philosophy' and the entirely etic (or external) 'Philosophy of Christian
Religion') which would highlight conceptual problems of interest
specifically to philosophers.

Emma McCloy Layman, Buddhism in America (Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1976),
drawing on terms from Donald Swearer, writes of the possible modes of
Buddhist influence as those of 'appropriation', 'transformation' and
'dialogue'. As Buddhism becomes more and more an established religion in
Western countries there will probably be more instances of transformation
and not just instances of Buddhist-Christian dialogue.

For further reading about the future one might consult S.S. Rama Rao Pappu
and Ramakrishna Puligandla (eds.) Indian Philosophy Past & Future (Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass, 1982).

Acknowledgement

Special thanks go to NEH for funding its Summer Seminar on Buddhism and
Culture at UCLA in 1989. There William LaFleur, Steven Teiser and some
seminar participants offered information, criticism and advice on writing
this essay. Any errors that remain are my own. I am grateful to Brian Carr
and Indira Mahalingam for their invitation to write this article.